DWP defends withholding $73.5 million from L.A.

Executives tell City Council members in a spirited exchange that they acted to protect the utility's credit rating and customers, not punish the city for not raising utility rates.

Executives with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power on Tuesday issued a sharply worded defense of their decision to withhold $73.5 million from city coffers in the middle of a recent fight over electricity rates, saying they did so to protect the utility's credit rating and its customers.